There are many reasons to keep a business website fresh. Customers like a fresh website, it gives them reasons to keep coming back to it. Technology is changing daily, which also makes technical reasons for keeping a website fresh. And search engines love fresh websites, so if you’re looking to rank higher in search engines, you need to keep your website fresh.

How do you keep a website fresh?

There are quite a few different ways to keep a website fresh. Because technology and design are constantly evolving, if your site was designed a few years ago, chances are it needs an upgrade. Not only is it outdated, but even if it was popular a few years ago, it probably isn’t mobile friendly (which is a must these days) and it probably isn’t very SEO friendly. It is worth it to invest in an upgrade.

Check your website from time to time for broken links. For example if you have linked to another business, or blog, perhaps they have gone out of business or changed something. If that link is no longer working it will show up as an error or a broken link leading your consumer to go elsewhere.

Google keeps track of how fresh your website is. If you increase the size or footprint of your website each year, Google will reward you for being “fresher” than other sites. You can increase your footprint by creating new pages.

It’s also important to update the content on the pages already on your website. This can be done by adding content, adding links to other areas of your website, or by adding photos to your page. You can also change the ALT tags on your photos. This is important because SEO rules are always changing, so the ALT text that was once there, might not be important SEO wise any longer.

Creating a blog is a great way to update your website. Not only does a blog keep your website fresh, when blogging about things your target market is interested in and searching for, it will attract new visitors. See our post on blogging. You can always repurpose a blog and update it too. Just don’t rename the URL, or you will lose all the SEO benefits gained from it.

Keep in mind that keeping your website fresh will benefit you. It will benefit your search engine traffic, your rank, and help to generate more traffic. If you lack the time to do this, it’s worth it to consider a professional marketing team and web designer to do these tasks for you. If you’re looking for a fresh website, we’d love to hear from you!

The post You Need to Keep Your Website Fresh, Here’s How to Do It appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design.

After creating a successful business, you want a successful website launch. Not only does that mean having a website that performs well and looks appealing, it also means having a website prepared for the best search engine results as possible. This is why there is a benefit of using the same SEO and web design company for your website.

Using a company that provides both SEO and Web Development services enables the website designer to work with the marketing department to ensure that your new website gets off to a great start. The marketing department will use their trade secrets to improve your website’s search results from the get go. Many people don’t realize that there can be errors in your site that can only be seen by search engines, these errors will impact your potential rank and if your web design company isn’t up to date on the latest SEO trends, you’re hurting your search results online before your site is even launched.

With this in mind, there are specific tasks the marketing department needs to have in place prior to the launch of the website. By working hand in hand with the web designer, this process flows seamlessly between the two, rather than going back and forth between a few different companies. Or even worse, after the website has been launched.

When these steps are taken prior to the launch of your website, Google will index your website and begin ranking it at the launch, rather than at a later date, which is better for you. Not doing these in tandem with the launch can be costly, and sometimes those precious moments can never be recovered.

By using the same team, not only are the team members familiar with each other, there’s already a process in place. They are experienced with communicating with each other, and they can respond quickly should any problems arise.

It doesn’t matter how great your website looks or functions—if no one can find you online you simply don’t exist. Show your business to the world with Webtivity Marketing & Design! Click here to request a consult.

The post See the Benefit of Using the Same SEO and Web Design Company appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design News.

1. What is ADA Compliance?
2. What are the Dangers of Being Non-compliant?
3. Who is Most at Risk of Legal Challenges?
4. What are the Benefits to Being ADA Compliant?
5. How to Test for Being ADA Compliant
6. How to Become ADA Compliant in 5 Easy Steps
7. The Future of ADA Compliance

What is ADA Compliance?

What is ADA? ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act. It became law in 1990 with a stated goal to stop discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. The ADA has five main components, known as Titles.

For our purposes, Title III of the ADA deals with public accommodations and commercial facilities that include websites. Title III is enforced as a strict liability law by the U.S. Department of Justice. That means there are little to no excuses to be uncompliant.

Web accessibility is an evolving set of requirements with no formal agreed-upon set of standards. Although not legally sourced, courts have referenced WCAG 2.0 in cases involving the ADA.

What are the Dangers of Being Non-compliant?

As of now, the Department of Justice has not independently pursued website owners for being Title III uncompliant. However, individuals affected by perceived non-compliant websites have sued website owners pursuing injunctive relief (e.g., for the company to make its website ADA accessible) and attorneys’ fees.

ADA lawsuits have shown a marked increase in the past few years. 2017 saw 814 ADA lawsuits while 2018 saw that number rise to 2285 cases. Although 2019 numbers are not out yet, it will exceed 2018.

Who is Most at Risk of Legal Challenges?

The rise in ADA related cases has led increasingly to more and more industries being affected. Due to their close interactions with the general public, certain industries present more vulnerable targets to ADA legal action.

Top industries targeted by ADA lawsuits include real estate, retail, travel, entertainment, and foodservice. The list keeps growing as precedents keep being set by previous cases.

A significant portion of the cases, 55%, in 2019 settled within just 60 days. It is often uneconomical to fight these legal challenges and come out victoriously.

What are the Benefits to Being ADA Compliant?

Being ADA compliant is first and foremost a positive development in our pursuit to be a more inclusive society. Every company with an online presence should strive to accommodate as many of its visitors as possible. ADA compliance is simply a continuation of good customer service extended to a larger audience.

ADA compliance forces a website to comfort to the highest Search Engine Optimization standards. The increased rankings will garner more business for compliant websites.

Disabled and other users alike view brands with compliant websites in a more positive light compared to their inaccessible counterparts. Websites built with WCAG guidelines tend to be easier to navigate, increasing positive user experience.

Finally, making efforts to be ADA compliant will protect website owners from being on the wrong end of legal action.

How to Test for Being ADA Compliant

It remains incredibly difficult to ensure full ADA compliance. The WCAG is a best-case scenario set of guidelines.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) maintains a list of tools that can assist in ascertaining the level of WCAG compliance. They do not claim that any single tool is representative of fulfilling all of the guidelines’ requirements.

A full evaluation of every page of a website is the only approach that ensures that all parts meet the WCAG guidelines.

How to Become ADA Compliant in 5 Easy Steps

Easy here is subjective. The steps to make a website ADA compliant are simple yet require huge amounts of labor depending on the size of a website.

1. Review the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines. Webtivity recommends the latest iteration; WCAG 2.1.
2. Use one of the tools listed at the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools List section of the World Wide Web Consortium. We recommend the WAVE Web Accessibility Tool.
3. Build your website’s content with the best practices in mind. Break up content by headings and sub-headings. Keep content conversational. Google has decent recommendations on how to go about doing this throughout a website.
4. Use a website color scheme that makes use of heavy contrasts instead of lighter or blended colors. WebAIM has a handy contract checking tool to help in picking colors.
5. Evaluate your website code. Have a developer clean and sanitize website code to meet the highest web standards. Screen readers and other accessibility tools have a hard time handling outdated or overly complicated code and scripts. Webtivity recommends Isobar Front-end Code Standards.

The Future of ADA Compliance

The future of web ADA compliance is a contentious subject. The first major case to go to trial, Gil. V. Winn Dixie is still working its way through the courts. The Plaintiff, Juan Carlos Gil, won in a lower court; however Winn Dixie appealed to the Eleventh Circuit. That opinion is due to be issued in the next few months.

Depending on the results, the current legal environment will change in terms of the legal culpability of ADA compliance. However, this is likely to be limited to specific websites; in this case, retailers with physical fronts.

ADA compliance is here to stay. It behooves any website, specifically public-facing websites, to endeavor to be as compliant as possible to web accessibility standards.

Is your website ready to be ADA compliant? Webtivity Marketing & Design is here to guide you through the process of ensuring your website conforms to the highest web standards.

Reach out to us at (941) 753-7574 or send us a message for an immediate answer.

The post Does my Website Need to be ADA Compliant? appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design News.

Experienced Piano Teacher Joins Cyberspace!

Marcia Powell teaches piano lessons in Clearwater, FL and just so happens to be our Business Development Director’s piano guru. Marcia was looking to establish herself online and create a landing zone for those looking for a piano teacher in the Pinellas County area. She also wanted the capability to update the website internally, so the WordPress platform was recommended for the project.

Created with the user experience firmly in mind, the website has been designed using the latest technology so the site is compatible with today’s browsers & mobile devices. The site includes extensive student testimonials and photography to provide a more detailed overview into Marcia’s musical ability and teaching prowess.

About Marcia’s Music Studio:

Marcia’s Music Studio provides piano lessons to all ages. From the young beginner to the older one, from the novice to the pro, Marcia delivers outstanding lesson material & tweaks her tailors training techniques to each individual student.  Her many years of experience and passion for her art shine through in her demeanor with students and results in their learning. Marcia also loves to accompany singers in shows and parties. Her accompanist services are also available upon request.  For more information please visit https://www.marciasmusicstudio.com/.

About Webtivity Marketing & Design:

Webtivity Marketing & Design, a Bradenton & St. Petersburg based company, serves clients throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world. Webtivity provides website design/development and cross-media marketing services including search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media, email marketing, and branding/identity services. Using a consultative approach, Webtivity works with clients to develop an effective marketing strategy based on their business, customers, competition, and budget.  For more information, please visit www.webtivitydesigns.com.

The post Webtivity Launches New Website for Marcia’s Music Studio appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design News.

Looking for a fresh website? Need more hits on Google? Check out our Brand New Web Design & SEO Packages – for EVERY  budget! Check out our brand new Web Design & SEO Packages! Start with a redesigned website and roll right into a digital marketing campaign AND get a refreshed website EVERY 3 YEARS! – at ONE monthly fee! Click below to find out more. Look Your Best & Be your Best! It’s Important! It is commonly accepted that websites should be refreshed about every 3 years. This is because search engines like Google reward websites with fresh, clean code & design elements like mobile-responsiveness and others. Keeping an old website is actually hurting you online. ‘Points’ are also given to websites with fresh content. How do you get all this done & run your business? – We’re here to help! Starting with a fresh website, you’ll be ready to make some headway online. What good is your website if it’s not working FOR you? Get your online presence going with WordPress & Webtivity! Starting with the Small-Business Owner in mind, the Economy plan is your start to success online, we wrap it up with the Platinum plan, meant to reach a regional to national audience. Click on the table above to see the full thing! Still not sure what SEO is? Not sure why a fresh website is even important? Click below to learn more about digital marketing & why your business needs it! What is SEO anyway?   JUST need Web Design?? Click here to get a custom quote!   JUST need Marketing?? Click here to get a custom quote! Copyright © *2019* *Webtivity Marketing & Design*, All rights reserved.

The post Check out our Brand New Web Design & SEO Packages appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design News.

We are proud to announce that we have been named a leading web design agency in the United States for 2018 by Clutch!  You may recall earlier in the year they also named us one of the top digital marketing and SEO companies in the greater Tampa area as well!

Here at Webtivity Design Solutions, we’re very proud of our accomplishments, but recognition isn’t our goal, albeit nice to see our hard work recognized. Our goal is to continue to improve, and to provide the top quality service our clients have been accustomed to for almost 20 years now.

Give us a call at 941-753-7574 or contact us for more information on how we can work closely with you to help your business design the website you’ve always dreamed of, and achieve all of your digital marketing goals!

The post Webtivity Named a Leading Web Design Agency in the United States appeared first on Webtivity Marketing & Design News.